Authorities said the city saw 13 percent fewer violent crimes than in 2013. Additionally, police said the number of homicides dropped by 50 percent.

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Total crime fell by 6 percent, police said.

“It’s excellent news,” said Manchester Police Commissioner Mark Roy. “It just goes to show that what the police department is doing is working.”

Roy said the drop came from a big change in the department.

“Twenty years ago, cops would sit at Dunkin’ Donuts and do reports. Now they want to be out and focused, be there where somebody can flag them down,” he said.

Manchester police said the Hot Spots Initiative that they started in the spring helped crush crime. The program calls for policing high-crime areas for 12-15 minutes more each day.

“So that 12 to 15 minutes has shown, in other studies in other cities, that once the officers are there for 15 minutes, whether they’re acting as a deterrent for another crime or a cruiser or a park and walk, going to meet business owners, constituents, it’s greatly reducing crime numbers,” said Manchester Police Lt. Brian O’Keefe.

The Queen City had 56 fewer robberies in 2014 -- a 21 percent drop from 2013.

Choudhary Khan, owner of Maple Street Market, was robbed at gunpoint in 2013. Since then, no one has held up his store.

“Yeah, it’s much better than a couple of years ago,” Khan said.

Pedro Rodriguez, who owns Rodriguez Market, said he feels safer with more police officers on his street.

“Yeah, it’s a little bit safer, and I think the police is patrolling more than they used to.”